‘Mistake that we should no longer make’: N. Korea's Kim Jong Un on seeking reunification with S. Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, official KCNA news agency reported citing the leader.

While speaking at a year-end party meeting, Kim Jong Un said, “I believe that it is a mistake that we should no longer make to consider the people who declare us as the 'main enemy'... as someone to seek reconciliation and unification with,” KCNA quoted.

Apart from this, Kim also ordered the drawing-up of measures for reorganising departments handling cross-border affairs, to "fundamentally shift the direction".

Kim's said he'll continue a run of weapons tests to expand his arsenal amid long-dormant diplomacy with the United States. Observers say Kim would ultimately hope to use his boosted nuclear capability to wrest greater outside concessions if diplomacy resumes.

He also said that moves by the US and its followers against North Korea have been unprecedented this year, pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war, the agency reported. 

“The grave situation requires us to accelerate works to acquire overwhelming war response capabilities and thorough and perfect military readiness to suppress any types of provocations by the enemies at a stroke,” Kim said as quoted by KCNA.

During the meeting, one of the key policy decisions that was made for the next year was North Korea's plans to launch three more spy satellites in 2024 as part of efforts to ramp up the country's military, state media reported.

"The task of launching three additional reconnaissance satellites in 2024 was declared" as one of the key policy decisions for next year at a year-end party meeting, KCNA said.

Earlier last month, Pyongyang successfully put a military spy satellite into orbit and has since claimed it was providing images of major US and South Korean military sites.

Inter-Korean relations are in a poor state as Seoul and Washington have ramped up defence cooperation this year in the face of a record-breaking series of weapons tests by Pyongyang.

(With inputs from AFP, AP)